The Public Prosecutor (“Press”) Quotes in Zoot Suit
PRESS: (Jumping in.) Your Honor, there is testimony we expect to develop that the 38th Street Gang are characterized by their style of haircuts…
GEORGE: Three months, Your Honor.
PRESS: …the thick heavy heads of hair, the ducktail comb, the pachuco pants...
GEORGE: Your Honor, I can only infer that the Prosecution…is trying to make these boys look disreputable, like mobsters.
PRESS: Their appearance is distinctive. Your Honor. Essential to the case.
GEORGE: You are trying to exploit the fact that these boys look foreign in appearance! Yet clothes like these are being worn by kids all over America.
PRESS: Your Honor…
JUDGE: (Bangs the gavel.) I don’t believe we will have any difficulty if their clothing becomes dirty.
GEORGE: What about the haircuts. Your Honor?
JUDGE: (Ruling.) The zoot haircuts will be retained throughout the trial for purposes of identification of defendants by witnesses.
PRESS: (Springing to the attack.) You say Henry Reyna hit the man with his fist. (Indicates HENRY standing.) Is this the Henry Reyna?
DELLA: Yes. I mean, no. He’s Henry, but he didn’t ...
PRESS: Please be seated. (HENRY sits.) Now, after Henry Reyna hit the old man with his closed fist, is that when he pulled the knife?
DELLA: The old man had the knife.
PRESS: So Henry pulled one out, too?
GEORGE: (Rises.) Your Honor, I object to counsel leading the witness.
PRESS: I am not leading the witness.
GEORGE: You are.
PRESS: I certainly am not.
GEORGE: Yes, you are.
JUDGE: I would suggest, Mr. Shearer, that you look up during the noon hour just what a leading question is?
PRESS: […] We are dealing with a threat and danger to our children, our families, our homes. Set these pachucos free, and you shall unleash the forces of anarchy and destruction in our society. Set these pachucos free and you will turn them into heroes. Others just like them must be watching us at this very moment. What nefarious schemes can they be hatching in their twisted minds? Rape, drugs, assault, more violence? Who shall be their next innocent victim in some dark alley way, on some lonely street? You? You? Your loved ones? No! Henry Reyna and his Latin juvenile cohorts are not heroes. They are criminals, and they must be stopped. The specific details of this murder are irrelevant before the overwhelming danger of the pachuco in our midst. I ask you to find these zoot-suited gangsters guilty of murder and to put them in the gas chamber where they belong.
The Public Prosecutor (“Press”) Quotes in Zoot Suit
PRESS: (Jumping in.) Your Honor, there is testimony we expect to develop that the 38th Street Gang are characterized by their style of haircuts…
GEORGE: Three months, Your Honor.
PRESS: …the thick heavy heads of hair, the ducktail comb, the pachuco pants...
GEORGE: Your Honor, I can only infer that the Prosecution…is trying to make these boys look disreputable, like mobsters.
PRESS: Their appearance is distinctive. Your Honor. Essential to the case.
GEORGE: You are trying to exploit the fact that these boys look foreign in appearance! Yet clothes like these are being worn by kids all over America.
PRESS: Your Honor…
JUDGE: (Bangs the gavel.) I don’t believe we will have any difficulty if their clothing becomes dirty.
GEORGE: What about the haircuts. Your Honor?
JUDGE: (Ruling.) The zoot haircuts will be retained throughout the trial for purposes of identification of defendants by witnesses.
PRESS: (Springing to the attack.) You say Henry Reyna hit the man with his fist. (Indicates HENRY standing.) Is this the Henry Reyna?
DELLA: Yes. I mean, no. He’s Henry, but he didn’t ...
PRESS: Please be seated. (HENRY sits.) Now, after Henry Reyna hit the old man with his closed fist, is that when he pulled the knife?
DELLA: The old man had the knife.
PRESS: So Henry pulled one out, too?
GEORGE: (Rises.) Your Honor, I object to counsel leading the witness.
PRESS: I am not leading the witness.
GEORGE: You are.
PRESS: I certainly am not.
GEORGE: Yes, you are.
JUDGE: I would suggest, Mr. Shearer, that you look up during the noon hour just what a leading question is?
PRESS: […] We are dealing with a threat and danger to our children, our families, our homes. Set these pachucos free, and you shall unleash the forces of anarchy and destruction in our society. Set these pachucos free and you will turn them into heroes. Others just like them must be watching us at this very moment. What nefarious schemes can they be hatching in their twisted minds? Rape, drugs, assault, more violence? Who shall be their next innocent victim in some dark alley way, on some lonely street? You? You? Your loved ones? No! Henry Reyna and his Latin juvenile cohorts are not heroes. They are criminals, and they must be stopped. The specific details of this murder are irrelevant before the overwhelming danger of the pachuco in our midst. I ask you to find these zoot-suited gangsters guilty of murder and to put them in the gas chamber where they belong.
